The job
One concept / mood board piece for the level background of World 1 of our game. Reference art only, we implement it ourselves. No engine files, no animation.
Context
Perihelium is a 2D pixel art ricochet game. Ship at the bottom, meteoroid bouncing up into blocks. Eight worlds, one planet each, running from light and calm to dark and hostile.
This is World 1, the calm end of that arc and the first thing a new player sees. It should read placid and vast, never threatening.
We already have a version of this in engine and we are not happy with it. We want a fresh take, so we are deliberately not showing it. Work from the description below only.
Must have
- Ringed gas giant, seen close. It fills a good part of the frame and its limb curves. Not a small distant disc.
- Warm palette. Horizontal cloud bands in tan, ochre, sand and cream. Jupiter as a starting point, stylised, not traced.
- A Great Red Spot style storm. Reddish orange vortex, sitting consistently with the band flow.
- Ring system crossing the frame, pale and cold against the warm body of the planet.
- Starfield with depth.
- Two faint dust bands, one behind the planet and one in front.
Constraints
- Limited palette, roughly 8 to 12 tones per element. Posterised, no soft gradients.
- 16:9, reference 1920x1080. Coarse pixel grid, so it has to read without fine detail.
- Composes as five parallax layers: stars, rings, planet body, far dust, near dust. No need to deliver them split, but it should hold up if we cut it that way.
- Keep the lower and centre of the frame quiet. Ship, meteoroid and blocks sit on top of it.
- The meteoroid is a grey rock and has to stay readable against the background while moving. Gameplay requirement, not a style note.
Deliverables
- Final scene illustration, PNG or JPG, high res.
- Palette with hex codes.
- 2 revision rounds.
An alternative composition or palette sketch is welcome, not required.
Not in scope
- Changing the concept. It stays a warm ringed gas giant, the calm world.
- Shaders or Godot files.
- Ship, meteoroid, blocks or UI.
- High contrast or busy detail that fights the gameplay layer.
Budget and timeline
- Budget: 50 to 100 USD, depending on portfolio and proposal.
- Timeline: 2 weeks.
- If it works out there are 7 more planets.
To apply
Reply or DM with portfolio (space / sci-fi environments ideally), price and timeline. Questions welcome before you quote.